Pensioners have less than a month to snap up a government offer that could boost their income by up to £1,300 a year.

Those who hit pension age before April 6 last year could increase their state pension by between £1 and £25 a week.

Just 7,600 have bought top-ups — far short of the 265,000 the Department for Work and Pensions had expected.

On April 5, the offer closes and the opportunity will be lost forever.

Government offer: Those who hit pension age before April 6 last year could increase their state pension by between £1 and £25 a week

The top-up scheme offers a better income than savings accounts at banks or building societies. But a leading pensions expert warns that, generous though the scheme may seem, there may be better risk-free ways for pensioners to boost their income.

Malcolm McLean, senior consultant with actuaries Barnett Waddingham, says: 'Other options, such as suspending your state pension for a year or so, may work out cheaper.'

The voluntary Class 3A National Insurance top-up scheme is aimed at those who had not been able to build up much additional state pension through Serps and the state second pension and felt aggrieved they had missed out on the new state pension, which started last April.

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It is open to men born before April 6, 1951, and women born before April 6, 1953.

The cost depends on age, with the youngest paying most because they are likely to draw the pension longer.

A man aged 67 would pay £847 to buy an extra £1 a week (£52 a year). To buy £25 a week (£1,300 a year) would cost £21,175. A 77-year-old woman would pay £625 for £1 a week or £15,625 for £25.

Billy Burrows, director of adviser Retirement IQ, says: 'It's a shame few people know about the top-ups because they're a valuable way of boosting your retirement and won't be around long.'

He says terms are generous compared with annuity rates, where it would cost a 67-year-old man around £50,000 to buy a £1,300-a-year annuity income with similar terms.

One of these is that if you die before your spouse or civil partner, they get at least half of the additional pension that you buy.

The rate of widow's pension depends on when you were born. Men born before October 6, 1937, and women born before October 5, 1942, can pass on 100 per cent of the top-up pension.

The rate gradually reduces to 50 per cent for men born on or after October 6, 1945, and women born on or after October 6, 1950.

Any pension bought is increased with CPI inflation. It will not benefit from the so-called triple lock, which raises the basic state pension by the greater of 2.5 per cent, wages inflation, or the retail prices index.

Act now: On April 5, the government offer closes and the opportunity will be lost forever

What are the alternatives? If you have gaps in your NI record, you may find it better to top-up using traditional Class 3 NI.

You can usually go back up to six years, but some can go back for up to ten years.

For example, a year's contribution from 2013/14 would cost £704.60 and would buy an extra year of basic state pension worth just under £4 a week or £207 a year.

Full details are at gov.uk. Even if you have not paid NI, you should check you have received credits you are entitled to, for example when bringing up children.

Men who were not working, but were beyond the retirement age for women, should also have received credits.

Another option for those receiving a state pension is to suspend it.

You can do this once, for as long as you want.

If you hit state pension age before April 6 last year, you get a 10.4 per cent uplift for every year you suspend your pension. Those retiring on or after this date get 5.8 per cent.

So, rather than use savings to buy a lump sum, you could live off those savings and suspend your state pension.

With pension freedoms, it would be possible to take a personal pension as a lump sum and live off that while your state pension increased by 10.4 per cent a year.

Someone on a full state pension of £6,203.60 a year could boost it by £645 a year (£12.40 a week) by suspending it for a year. You can also take the suspended pension as a lump sum if you retired before April 6 last year.

After two years, you would have bought the extra £25 a week maximum offered by the Class 3A top-up scheme.

But whereas Class 3A would cost a 66-year-old almost £22,000, this method would cost around £12,500.

The younger you are, the better the deal you get from suspending your pension.

The deferred pension will be increased with CPI inflation, rather than the triple lock — and you can't receive pension credit (or many other benefits) while it is suspended.

With all options, it is vital to check how they might affect other state benefits.